Should Pro's be seperated from Sportsman

[Don Kennedy]

Originally Posted by jmcarter

For two consecutive National events the PRO's held court by themselves (plus some Alky cars) and not that any sportsmen racers were there to witness it but has anyone heard how the experiment went? Granted, weather was a factor and sure the Lucas Oil competitors were thankful for being able to run their rounds without the track prep(?) for fuel cars. But has anyone heard it was a success from NHRA's perspective? From ESPN's perspective I'm sure they enjoyed the "drama" of shorter turnaround times for the Pros but do the typical fans really enjoy seeing less variety and fewer cars going down the track?

Found my” Old Soap Box”

There will always be Sportsman racers at National Events: The reasons are many > The Sportsman racers have to be in the pits , if not the fans would not see any race cars and the pits would look like a abandon space and a failed race image ,it is all about image /. The entry fees help pay NHRA expenses, The extra pit passes help Pay NHRA expenses, The money from the insurance helps pay NHRA expenses. The manufacturers row is gear towards the sportsman which helps pay NHRA expenses. The money from advertising in National Dragster helps pay NHRA expenses. The Money from chassis certs helps pay NHRA expenses, The money from the membership fees helps pay NHRA expenses. The low payouts help pay NHRA expenses. The money from the 500 at a national event or so racers who buy food and souvenirs helps pay NHRA expenses. I suspect that if a NHRA accountant who knew nothing about the process and magnitude of putting on a race he would be very happy to accept the amount of money Sportsman bring in and would not delete them lol .A person has to look at the overall picture which not only includes our eyes as well as NHRA eyes to come up with a Plan for all to have a good racing experience If NHRA fails we all fail to solve the issues >

Now as I get back up on my old worn out “Soap Box” this in my opinion again . NHRA must get together with the following: Racers who have no personal agenda, workers who work for NHRA who know how to solve some issues but have not told NHRA cause of no one listens, people who don’t have a burr or chip on their shoulder against NHRA ,race track owners who are very successful in solving some of the issues NHRA has not ,such as track prep ( new machines to prep< new machines to scrape and new way to schedule a race is a start)

A meeting with people who have a problem and also know how to offer options on how to solve those issues in a civil manner would be great ,all paid for by NHRA at a central location for two days with a executive secretary taking notes all day both days and then later come out with a report for all to see on issues and what can be done to solve them ,remember I suspect there are issues we don’t know about that NHRA has and we should know about them not fight them to have a successful adventure with racing our passion and their business ok I just fell off my soap box must go Granddaughter is playing the piano and I must listen lol